


Crush.

by wutthequiznack (birbsandemidogs04)



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-21
Updated: 2018-06-21
Packaged: 2019-05-26 05:53:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,879
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14994200
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/birbsandemidogs04/pseuds/wutthequiznack
Summary: Two bros chilling on Earth, five feet apart cuz they're not gay





	Crush.

**Author's Note:**

> Edit: DID I PREDICT THE SUNSET SCENE KDKDKKFSSSS

Keith had always had a crush on Lance, but he'd never known it was a crush. It was a nuisance, for sure. Especially when he'd look at Lance flirting with some random alien girl and feel scorn in the pit of his stomach - or he'd be talking to Lance and let himself go, feel that familiar breathtaking weakness that he was so used to concealing. 

Upon first coming to terms with this new problem, he'd pushed it away. Rejected it. Denial, maybe. Or maybe he just didn't want to get hurt, if he plunged himself into liking Lance and getting nothing in return because there was no way Lance would ever like him back. 

So he'd frown and cross his arms and keep going, wishing somewhere deep inside that Lance could see, could feel the way he was feeling. This type of mad, bitter, helpless love was hard to conceal, to keep on the backburner long. Every flirty remark from Lance to Allura wounded him emotionally behind his scowling facade. Lance had no idea, but loving him was torture. 

The training would do more than just keep him in shape - it would also take his mind off his worries and every stress of being a paladin, plus his experiences as a hormonal teenager. 

His Bayard sword was always so comfortingly heavy and warm in his grip on the deck, something palpable and there - and as he fought the drones he would allow himself to sink into not thinking. It was nice. 

Then came his time with the Blades. 

Keith would be lying if he said he hadn't joined the blades partly because of the pain of being near Lance. He felt as if they had been growing closer, yes, but not in the way Keith wanted to. He supposed these things took time - patience - but he'd never been strong in that area. Besides, Lance's concerns about the number of paladins rivaling the number of available lions caused worry to spawn in him that maybe Lance was really going to step down from the team. If Keith left, not only would he not be there to be tortured by his own emotions, but also Lance wouldn't leave the team. 

It was majorly his curiosity about his heritage which caused him to leave, but Lance also had a factor in it. 

But he could not have been more wrong. Being away from Lance simply made him pine harder. The feeling - missing him - built up inside of him like an anger threatening to spill over or explode, stewing with ten times the intensity that it once had when Lance had been with him. Keith thrust himself into his missions, closing off whenever Kolivan called the ship and Lance would be there on the other end, waiting expectantly for news. He would say nothing if he didn't have to, let Kolivan take over completely and deliver the messages, watched the others with a stony poker face. 

It worked, for a while. 

His mother's appearance was a shock to him. He hadn't recognized her at all, only later realizing they looked a lot alike. 

It was a foreign experience, spending time with her, and during the two distorted years they spent on top of the space whale Keith found a surprising sense of peace. Lance was still on his mind, but now he had come to terms with him being there. And to his surprise, Krolia knew some things about what he was going through. 

He found himself telling her all about his life, spilling things helplessly because she would always listen, her face almost expressionless so that he felt comfortable speaking. 

He'd told her about the team almost reluctantly. He had a lot to say about Shiro, and Krolia seemed pleased that he'd had someone to look after him in her absence. The others, Keith had mentioned lightly, feeling like he was building up to the moment where he'd introduce Lance. 

Truly, he didn't know how she would react to Lance. Somehow talking about him was different. 

Once he'd started, he couldn't stop. He told his mother all about Lance, from his smiles to the forgotten bonding moment (appropriately, she'd gasped here) to all the times Lance had made him feel like yelling in anger and exasperation or in happiness. He mentioned how Lance seemed to always love to goad him on, thinking they had a rivalry going, but also how confused he was now at their shifting dynamics. By the end, he was flustered and burned out. Krolia watched him with a gentle smile on her face. 

"Sounds like you have a lot of feelings about Lance," she said simply, cryptically, like saying anything more might break him even further. He appreciated this. 

"I guess," he replied. "For a long time, I didn't know what it is. Or maybe I didn't want to know or accept it. After a while I thought ignoring it or putting it in the back of my mind would make it go away, but it just got bigger. I still like him."

Krolia's gaze shifted to the fire in front of them a bit. "He sounds a lot like your father," she said after a few minutes. 

"Dad was like that?" Keith asked, startled. He hadn't known his father long enough to understand what he was really like. All he remembered was an accent, a scar through his eyebrow, and a face that almost perfectly mirrored Shiro's. 

"Oh, yes."  
His mother chuckled. "Your father could be extremely dense. In fact, it took a while for anything to happen between us." 

Keith looked away, remembering Lance's hand in his and how it had just felt right, like a puzzle piece clicking into a whole. "But Dad loved you. Lance probably doesn't even like me, he says we're rivals-" 

"You know, Keith," his mother interrupted. "If he's making up these scenarios about you two in his head, I'm pretty sure he doesn't hate you."

She had a point there.  
"Besides, didn't you say he's come to you for advice?" 

"Yeah, I guess. But only because I was the leader after Shiro left."

Krolia smiled. "But nobody else asked for your advice, did they?" 

At that moment, Keith had felt grateful that he had a mother. 

Even though it didn't prove anything, her listening still made him feel better. 

\--

Going back, Shiro's voice requesting he identify himself in the Altean pod was a welcome relief. He answered straight away, determined to keep his face blank of emotions as it occurred to him that Lance would be there too.

Sure enough, he saw them all - Coran, Pidge, Hunk, and Lance. He tried to stare straight ahead and concentrate on his flying.

After the call, with the new knowledge that Lotor and Allura had left the Castle sometime before, Keith didn't have much time to mull over the comments Lance had made about him being "bigger". 

\--

He landed amongst them. Lance was the only one who came forward. 

He thought Keith was grizzled? Didn't that mean rugged, handsome? 

He didn't have time for that. He told himself so, and he told Lance that. He brushed past him, pretended like he didn't care and that his main motive was to catch Lotor. He missed the way Lance looked at him - with betrayal, hurt, his arms wide open. Keith would have trembled for a hug but this wasn't the time to let his emotions get the best of him. 

The time before their travel back to earth passed in a haze. 

Emotionally, physically, Keith was now utterly drained. His battle with Shiro had left a gaping hole in his heart and then repaired it with Shiro's revival - right now, he had to rest and hopefully, he'd be up and feeling again fast. 

He flew his lion in front of the others, leading them home to earth with nothing on his mind - nothing until Lance flickered into his subconscious. Lance had been the first paladin he'd thought about when he'd taken on the black lion's eyes. It had been completely subconscious. Instinctual. Keith frowned and tried to wipe him from his mind. Traces remained - the bright red aura of him, inside of his former lion, his eyes narrowed in the heat of battle…

He concentrated on where he was to stay once he got to earth - if he could find it, his desert shack would be the ideal place. It was, after all, his family home, and now Krolia would be there to make it less lonely. He smiled a bit at the thought that he wouldn't be alone anymore, that he wasn't an orphan anymore on his own in the wilderness. It was a comforting thought. 

But then he wondered where the other paladins would be going. Probably back to their families. They were rapidly approaching Earth's surface. Where did Lance live? Did he even live in the same country as Keith? It would be wishful thinking if he did. Did Lance have a family? 

That was a stupid question. He probably did. Yes, he did. He had talked about his siblings and mother before. Keith wondered if he had a big family. 

He shook his head and continued to barrel toward the ozone layer. 

\--

Keith didn't know how to ask Lance without sounding desperate. 

Truly, he didn't even know if they were splitting up to go to their own countries, or if they were only here temporarily and would go back into space soon to fight the Galra.

They made a campfire and all huddled around it the night they landed on Earth's surface, surprisingly only a little ways from the Garrison. Keith sat on a log, his legs stretched out toward the flames. He was next to Lance. Lance, whose profile was beautiful even from the side. In the flickering glow of the fire, his face was lit up and looked warm, conflicting with the look of slight dismay and worry expressed within it.

He defied his own rules in order to get closer to him. 

"Hey," he said. 

The corner of Lance's mouth raised a little and then faltered. "Hey."

Keith looked off to the side, where Shiro was sitting, wrapped in a blanket from the ship. He looked weary, slouched over like he needed to sleep forever. He had insisted on not resting too long, but Keith could tell he was still tired. Lance followed his gaze over. His head dropped. 

"Keith, I -"  
He sighed like it was hard for him to get the words out. "This was all my fault. I should have listened to him. I should've - should've known something was wrong. Instead, I let it all happen. I'm sorry we had to. You had to fight him."

Keith closed his eyes, taking in all Lance was saying. He met his eyes cautiously and picked his words carefully. "Lance, it wasn't your fault. Shiro went rogue because of Haggar. You didn't start that and you couldn't have stopped it."  
He gave him a tentative smile. 

Lance fell silent. "Yeah. I guess. So you're 20 now, huh?" 

Changing the subject. Keith agreed with that logic.  
"Uhm, I guess? I mean, time was distorted where I was. I still don't really get how it works."

"How do you feel?" Lance asked. 

Keith thought about that. For the first time, being near Lance didn't cause him to get like he usually got. He felt completely at ease. Instead, the love bloomed calmly, spreading inside him like an undetected spore. He had ultimately accepted it. "I feel more mature," he said. "But I don't feel older, necessarily. I still feel 18." 

That was true. He was still 18 in this universe, anyway. He'd just needed that two years in another dimension to grow as a person, with a parent to help him. It had been closure. 

Lance sat back on the log and stared at the fire. There was silence between them, content silence. Keith looked to their lions, lying on the ground to the side of them. The paladins were huddled around scattered fires in the campground, with Pidge and Hunk at one, Krolia, Allura and Romelle at another a ways from them, and Shiro now slouched sideways on the grass, having given up on fighting to stay awake. Keith had missed the Earth breezes and silence of the night, the crackling of fires and the feel of the wind picking up his hair. He had nothing here but he also had missed everything.

He looked sideways at Lance, everything coming to him at once. His cheeks burned in the light of the fire - he felt the harsh spit of an ember against his skin and coughed against the strength of the smoke. 

Lance was looking back at him now, sideways. He said nothing. 

Helpless, Keith reached out and grasped Lance's shoulder, then got up to leave. 

He altogether missed the way Lance's gaze lingered on him as he left. 

\--

Shiro was awake the next day. He looked less tired and was studying his severed Galra arm intently. Keith stepped down from his lion and walked over to him. 

"Hey," he said, sitting beside him on the log. 

"Hey," Shiro replied. He smiled, a smile that Keith had missed. "Feels weird only having one arm." 

Keith looked down. Remembering their fight to the death was like a scar on his heart. 

Shiro noticed this and placed the other hand on his shoulder. "Hey. It's alright - it had to happen. It was part of my connection to Haggar."

"Yeah, I know, but now you only have one arm." Keith pointed out. 

"One human arm. I would rather have one human arm than two Galra arms any day." Shiro said. 

Keith nodded. That was true. 

"Plus, maybe I can get a proper prosthetic here on Earth," continued Shiro. 

"Shiro, I'm sorry I had to fight you." Keith blurted out suddenly. The guilt of the fight and the pain of it had lingered with him in the aftermath. He couldn't help but feel partly responsible, and even though they had had to fight, he felt remorse. Shiro had looked so evil - but then, it hadn't been Shiro. 

"Keith, I forgive you." said Shiro without hesitation. "You were only doing what was right for the team. And besides, I went berserk. If anything, I should feel bad for knocking out Coran and Hunk."

Keith remembered that. It had been terrifying to witness him going insane like that, something the real Shiro would never do. 

"We're brothers." Shiro reminded him. "I love you." 

Keith smiled and turned to hug him, his heart hurting at the feel of only one arm wrapped around his back. A few tears slipped out of his eyes and he wiped them on Shiro's jacket like he had when he was younger. 

It was good to have him back. 

\--

Lance was staring wistfully at Allura, who was laughing at something Romelle was doing. 

Keith came up to him and looked too.

"She's great, isn't she?" he asked. Keith shrugged. If he was back to flirting with the princess, he wanted no part in it. 

But then Lance sighed. Keith caught it - saw the tired lines around his eyes and sat next to him in concern. "You ok?"

"She and Lotor being together made me realize I'm nothing," Lance said quietly. He looked down, picking at something on his lap. "I'm not anyone special, I'm just a boy from Cuba."

A feeling of contempt for Lotor rose up in Keith like bile. "Lance, you aren't nothing," he told him. "You're a paladin of Voltron, a good fighter, a piss poor pilot -"

At this Lance chuckled. 

"- and you're a pretty great guy." Keith admitted, his cheeks glowing like red hot coals. 

Lance met his eyes now. He was staring at him intently. Keith had his attention. 

"Don't second guess yourself just because that loser just happened to be a Prince. You deserve to be happy." Keith finished. Before he had taken the time to mature, none of these words would have ever been able to escape his lips. Now he knew just what to say. 

Lance was smiling. "Yeah. Thanks, Keith," he said. He was looking at him so softly, like he didn't care who was watching. 

Keith was taken back to their bonding moment. He suddenly reached out and took Lance's hand in his - it was warm and sticky with sweat, and when Keith rubbed his fingers over the skin Lance stared at him with his mouth wide open. 

"What- what are you doing?" he asked, stuttering. 

"Holding your hand," replied Keith. He wasn't regretful - he could tell from Lance's expression that he was making him flustered. "Isn't it obvious?" 

"Y-yeah, but - I mean, you're not supposed to-"  
His face was a violent shade of red that made Keith think of tropical birds flying outside his desert shack once every year to migrate away. Those birds were beautiful, tangled together in their blurry flight. He remembered the year his father had first pointed them out to him, and the years afterward when Shiro had done the same. 

Keith took his hand out of Lance's without a word. "Sorry." 

To his surprise, Lance took back his hand. "Don't be sorry, you idiot." 

Keith grinned. 

\--

**Author's Note:**

> Listen, s6 killed me. 
> 
> I know I'm not caught up on other fanfictions but I had to make this, for emotional therapy. Left it sort of open-ended, the way I think it'll go. Hopefully the next season won't let us down !


End file.
